What is the cost of NOT using a stair glide?

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Stair glides do cost money, especially if you buy them from a reputable, experienced dealer who can provide product knowledge and service. I see my clients tempted everyday to save a little money and just keep on struggling up and down the stairs. I think this falls into the “penny wise, pound foolish” category of thinking.

Sometimes it is easier for a person to see the need when they’ve experienced a traumatic event and go from having no problems on the stairs to difficulty with them over a short period of time. They feel the impact that problems moving within their homes cause more keenly, and they are looking for solutions.

When the problem with negotiating steps comfortably has developed over a long period of time it is usually harder for a person to see the need for equipment like a stair glide. They may or may not have noticed that it simply takes more effort to go up and down the stairs. Perhaps they accept their arthritis pain as normal and aren’t aware of the stress that the stairs puts on their joints. Or they stumble one day and realize that they really haven’t felt comfortably balanced while maneuvering on stairs for quite a while. I will usually suspect a problem with the stairs when a person describes their daily routine in a way that makes it evident that they are arranging their lives around avoiding the stairs. I’ve met people living in older 2 story homes, who limit the amount of water they drink during the day because they don’t want to have to use the stairs to get upstairs to the bathroom. I know so many people who gradually become recluses simply because it takes too much effort or is too frightening to navigate steps to get outside.

Other people have told me quite proudly that they would never consider a stair glide. When I ask why they tell me that they believe they need the exercise or that they believe that they’ve been told by their physician or therapist that the stairs are good exercise for them. Now, I rarely come right out and disagree with another health professional, but I think there is a time and place for exercise and an area where the consequence of a mis-step is a tumble down the stairs is not it! If you have balance or strength problems, exercise somewhere else in your home where a fall is less likely to kill you.

Here are a few things we look for other than stairwell width, height, and length when we are recommending stair glides. These factors influence they type of options and features we recommend as well as the cost.

• Can the client get up and down out of chair safely? Do they need things like handles or grab bars for balance?

• Is there room at the top and bottom of the stairs for wheelchairs or walkers now and in the future? If the client uses mobility equipment, are they prepared to have duplicate equipment at the top and bottom of the system?

• Are there any structural changes that need to be made such as moving handrails, modifying doors around the track, or providing convenient electrical outlets?

• Will the track itself create a trip hazard at either the top or bottom of their stairs? Will the track present a hazard to others on the stairs?

• Is there clearance for their head and knees when they are riding? We have modified door casings at the top of a stairwell to provide a vital 1.5” of space for a tall person.

• What is the client’s weight? Larger weight capacity chairs cost more, but are worth it in the long run for safety, and a longer useful life if a person is close or over the manufacturer’s posted weight limit.

• Where are good locations for call/send switches.

• What safety improvements can we make around the chair glide such as removal of clutter, removal of loose throw rugs, and improvement of lighting?

Compared to your safety, your independence, and the quality of every day living, a stair glide for a straight stairwell is usually pretty cheap. Curved stairwells or stairwells with landings are more expensive as the track is often customized but is still usually less expensive than moving or a trip to the emergency room and rehab. We think the quality of your life is worth at least considering a safe way to have use of every level of your home.

Accessibility Doesn't Come at The Price of Attractiveness

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How much difference does a bathroom that works for you make in the quality of your life? We took a retrospective look at  some clients who we helped improve the safety of the bathroom while modernizing it and helping her achieve her vision of beauty. She was happy with the way her new bathroom allowed her husband to be more independent and able to shower mostly by himself now in security.  She’s been able to truly relax, and not be afraid that her husband would fall. He enjoys the privacy.

As we improved the accessibility of the bathroom, we kept budget and aesthetics in mind as well. Rather than widening the door and moving walls, we were able to use much more economical swing-clear hinges to provide the extra 1 and a half of door way width we needed. Our grab bar placement was designed to allow him to move through the bathroom and to help him up off the toilet, but matches the theme of the room without looking out of place or disruptive.

In the shower, we were able to use a pre-blocked Best Bath shower to place grab bars where he needed them, and to ensure he could place the showerhead wherever he wanted it most. Best Bath showers are beautiful, durable, and low maintenance, but their functionality and practicality, as well as their ability to be changed in the future as needed, is something else that we love about them. Here, we made use of their adaptability with a temporary threshold.  It’s secured and caulked down now, but if they ever need a roll-in shower, it’s a simple matter to remove it and for a simple, elegant conversion to a roll-in shower. You can think about Best Bath System’s life time shower concept as two showers for the price of one.

So, share the news and share the video. Accessibility doesn’t come at the price of attractiveness. It’s possible to have a bathroom that is a pleasure to be in for both its safety and its beauty.

Magic Wand of Accessibility

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Sorry Virginia, there is no magic access wand.

Sometimes we can tell that we are disappointing the person standing in front of us at a health fair or talking to us on the phone. We are simply too responsible to attempt to solve their home accessibility answer without more information and usually without going to their home. Sometimes they’ve given long explanations of what is going on and what isn’t working, and we have listened. But even when they can accurately describe their abilities and what their home looks like, they are only able to give us their perspective of those things. 

While our client’s perspective is critical and plays a huge role in the recommendations we make, they deny themselves the benefit of our objectivity and experience over the years if they ask us to rely solely on their impressions. 

Here are a few reasons why a responsible access consultant won’t just attempt to solve problems for people without a good individual and on-site review:

1. There are accessibility guidelines that some people think can be used like a cookbook for access such as the Americans with Disability Accessibility Act Guidelines, but these are not designed to meet the personal need of every individual and they aren’t required in private residences unless they’ve been incorporated into a building code.

2. Every person is different from others and should be treated individually. Even two people with the same medical condition, same age, same size, and same sex, will have different goals, preferences and abilities.

3. Houses are very different from each other.
In short, there really is no notebook or cookbook that says what is exactly right for every person and we know there is really no such thing as accessibility magic wands so we have to rely on good old evaluation, knowledge about a multitude of options, and the experience to match those options with the individual’s needs. We feel like the best way to solve an access issue is to listen to a person to understand their goals and observe them in the environment they want to change. So if you give us a call with an access question, we really don’t want to disappoint you. Expect a thorough residential access answer to include a visit to you in your residence. 

If you want an objective, professional solution to your residential access problem, call us and set an appointment with one of our designers. We provide in-home assessments with no travel fee in the Greater Omaha, Nebraska area. All other areas in Nebraska and Iowa are possible with a travel fee. We will give you a firm estimate of your costs for consultation when you call to make an appointment.